Christopher Purves, Jonathan Cohen, Arcangelo Handel's Finest Arias For Base Voice, Vol. 2 (2018)

Septura head homeward with a recording of British music from the first half of the twentieth century- a golden age in England’s otherwise checkered compositional history, and a period in which brass instruments, in the form of the brass band, established their place at the very heart of British musical culture. From the many composers of the period whose music endures we have chosen four of the finest: iconic works by Elgar, Parry, Finzi and Walton, reimagined for the unique sound of the brass septet. Septura brings together London’s leading players to redefine brass chamber music through the uniquely expressive sound of the brass septet. By creating a canon of transcriptions, arrangements and new commissions for this brand new classical configuration, Septura aims to recast the brass ensemble as a serious artistic medium. Currently ensemble-in-residence at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the group is recording a series of albums for Naxos, each focused on a particular period, genre and set of composers, creating a ‘counter-factual history’ of brass chamber music.

‘Shortly after Luigi Boccherini’s death on 28 May 1805, two journalists in Leipzig and Paris agreed that he had been (for the former) “an excellent cellist capable of bewitching audiences with the incomparable sound and expressive melody of his instrument” and (for the latter) “a wonderful cellist. He especially charmed us with his incomparable sonority and the very expressive song of his instrument”. However, posterity in the nineteenth century was most unkind to him, allowing him to “survive” thanks to a Minuet chosen at random, transposed for and endlessly churned out by every possible instrument (and even the voice), a somewhat “doctored” concerto, and finally editions of a small batch of “sonatas for cello and piano” adorned with an improbable arsenal of technical and performance markings far removed from the Boccherinian spirit . . .’ Yves Gérard.

The cover king Frank Hannon has flown back in with a sequel to the prequel of his first collection of his classic rock covers featuring some high-flying renditions of classics from DEEP PURPLE, JIMI HENDRIX, AEROSMITH, the STONES, SABBATH and, yes, SEAL and CHAKA KHAN!…

Chamber music arrangements of symphonies were very common in the late 18th and early 19th century, and it is probably true that a large proportion of the people who were familiar with the symphonic repertoire at the time were so because of them. The Second Symphony is the only one for which Beethoven himself produced an arrangement, although there is evidence that his student Ferdinand Ries did the bulk of the work, with Beethoven adding the finishing touches.